Rocket Science
by Reinbeauchaser
Summary: Okay, I lied, tho not intentionally. Inspiration seemes to still be with me. This is fluff, a DonMikey centric. I don't think Mike is this dumb, but Mike's always been a 'lightweight' concerning technology. Enough said. Movie one universe, I think.


**_Disclaimer_**_ – TMNT's are the products of Eastman/Laird/Mirage, and anyone else whose bank account is fat because of them, which doesn't include mine. _

_The following 'fluff' is Metacafe inspired, based on a joke that I found there. I apologize to any Mikey fans who feel as if their guy in orange is under-rated, especially in the 'intelligence' department. With this story, I'm afraid that I've only furthered that misconception. It might even be 'farther fetched' than normal. Personally, I think he's a lot smarter than most people give him credit for. _

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

**Rocket Science**

**by**** Reinbeauchaser**

Mikey was ecstatic!

He was nearly 'through the roof' with joy.

He could hardly contain himself, and the reason was quite simple.

Michelangelo was finally getting his very own computer!

Don was just as happy, since it meant that Mike would no longer be bugging him to use his. In fact, the smile on his face was nearly as wide as Niagara Falls.

Mike rubbed his hands in anticipation of playing non-stop Internet gaming. He had all he could do to keep from bouncing on his toes. "Yeah, bro!" Mike squealed when he noticed his brother's gleeful expression, "I feel the same way!"

Raph sniggered under his breath as he watched from the bedroom doorway, "But, not for the same reasons, I bet!" Leo chuckled and slapped Raphael on his carapace in silent understanding, looking over his brother's shoulder to the scene beyond.

Ignoring Raphael's comment, Mike giggled like a kid in a candy store. He watched in eager anticipation as Don sat the newly reassembled computer onto the makeshift desk of boxes and boards. Michelangelo would soon be on-line and gaming, and all without a 'Donnie-induced' curfew.

It almost felt like Christmas morning!

After months of listening to Mikey beg for a computer of his very own, Don had finally come to a decision. Once he had his mind made up, he spent weeks scouring the local neighborhoods and junkyards, eventually collecting enough disposed yet viable parts to assemble a workable computer. It was tedious at best, but the reward – namely, not having to share his computer or worry about Mikey destroying it – was great.

Of course, he did all of this in secret. It was either that or Mikey would end up pestering him every hour and on the hour with _"Do you have enough parts, yet?"_ or, even worse, _"When will it be ready?"_

Yes, Don knew that even suggesting his plan to Mike about building him his own computer would have invited a nightmare of his very own making.

Donatello wasn't the genius brother for nothing.

The turtle then crouched under the desk to wire the computer to the speakers, a gift on the sly from April. As he did, Don inclined his head to the left and asked, "Mike, on your bed is the surge protector. Can you hand it to…"

However, Splinter suddenly peeked over Leonardo's shoulder and interrupted, "Donatello, I am sorry to bother you, but the TV is _snowing_ again and my soap opera will be on in one minute."

"Sensei, I'll be there in a moment," Don replied, his voice muffled from under Mike's desk.

"I understand what you are doing, but my program is going to be on very soon," the rat restated impatiently.

"I only have one more thing to do, Sensei." Don explained, almost hissing in frustration. Why oh why couldn't his family learn how to fix things, then he'd have a few more moments of peace.

"No, my son," the rat replied in an almost urgent matter, "I need to find out if Sarah and Ryan will survive the plane crash and it's going to be first up on the program. You need to fix the television now, or I will miss finding out what happens to them!" He looked over at Michelangelo, his son's jubilant and happy expression now showing a bit of impatience. Splinter bowed his head a little, "I am sure that a few minutes of your brother's time to fix the television will not make that much difference, Michelangelo. After all, you have been waiting for quite some time for your own computer."

Huffing in resignation, Mike nodded, "Yeah, I guess you're right," and then he turned to Don as his brother extracted himself from under the desk, "Go and fix Master Splinter's TV, Don, I can wait." Sighing, he looked longingly over at his computer as Don left the room with their father. Leo left with them, but Raph decided to hang around for just a little bit longer.

"Gee, Mike, you were so close." he teased.

"Hey, how long can it take to fix the T.V.?" Mike shrugged, "I mean it's Don, the-tech-magician, we're talking about, right?"

Shrugging, Raph replied, "Hard to tell; depend on what's wrong with it."

Thirty minutes later, Don still hadn't fixed the television. Currently, he was pulling out each and every part from the set's internal matrix and laying them in an organized fashion next to him on the concrete floor. Donatello had his back to his family as he extracted the various tubes and whatnot from the electronic. Along his lap lay a ragged cloth with a bottle of cleaning solution positioned just in front of him.

As for Splinter, the poor old rat sat sullenly in his chair, depressed and peeved over missing his favorite programming.

"How much longer?" Leo whined as he slumped in the couch.

"Why?" Don asked irritably, as he picked up another part and scrutinized it.

"Because my favorite movie, The Last Samurai, is coming on in thirty minutes."

Don took the cloth, moistened it with some of the liquid cleaner, and began cleaning the part in his hand, saying, "Well, it'll take as long as it takes, Leo, that's all I can say. Whoever 'played around' with the television the last time, spilled something sticky inside. Almost every part's been gummed up. It's just amazing it's been working at all." He made a mental note never again to complain when his family seemed helpless with fixing things.

Raph, who had just walked in from the bedroom area, heard Don's comment, "Bet it was Mikey. I know he was complaining 'bout the signal not being strong enough, or somethin'" He furrowed his eye ridges a bit, "That was…a few days ago. He had a can of coke in his hand, too. Don't know what happened after that, since I was headin' for Casey's place at the time." He smiled, "Still, I wouldn't be surprised if Mike did it."

"Probably," Don grouched, as he picked up yet another television part and began cleaning it, too.

Suddenly, Splinter snorted and then stood up from his chair determinedly, "I am going to my room to meditate. It is obvious that I will not be watching my show today!"

"Hey, Sensei," Raph said cheerily, "you can always find out what happened when they start airing reruns!"

The rat glared at his red-masked son and harrumphed once in discontent, "Which means, Raphael, that tomorrow's episode and the next day's, and the next will be a waste of my time." He sighed, "It just won't be the same." He then headed for his room, his tail lashing slightly in irritation behind him.

Raph watched as his father left the room, and then turned towards his other two brothers, "Bet Mikey gets extra practice tomorrow."

"That is if he's the one who did it." Leo remarked, looking up at his brother, as Raph walked further into the living room.

Don glanced up at his oldest brother and asked, "What makes you think he didn't, Leo?"

Shrugging, Leonardo replied, "Well, he always gets blamed for things."

"Only because he's always guilty!" Raph countered.

Leo sighed, "Okay, maybe Mikey did it. I know I didn't mess with it…" and then he looked up at Raphael.

"Hey," Raph said defensively, crossing his arms indignantly, "I _break_ technology, remembah?"

Laughing, Leo replied, "Oops, my bad, sort of forgot about that!"

"Yeah?" Raph deadpanned as he quirked an eye, "I bet ya did."

Meanwhile, back in Mike's room, the poor thirteen-year old turtle sat on his bed in his room staring at his computer. He sighed in resignation, "Raph's right, I was close, but…" He sighed again, and looked over at the door. "How much longer is Donnie gonna take, anyway?" he whined and glanced back at his desk again. Then, he smiled, "Wait, Don mentioned the surge protector, didn't he?" Mike looked at the thick strip of plastic on his bed, with four sockets decorating its length, and a long cord protruding from one end. He studied it for a moment, and then his smile widened. "How hard could it be? It's not rocket science; you just plug the computer into it, right?"

The young turtle slipped excitedly off his bed, with the surge protector in hand. He padded slowly over to his desk and peaked underneath, where the speakers and the cord to the computer were. He eyed the protector again and then looked at the PC cord once more. Finally, he crouched down and wiggled himself beneath his desk. After a few minutes of working the plugs, he quickly scuttled back out and stood up, with a huge, happy grin on his face.

"Voile' and I now have a computer," he exclaimed, "That was incredibly easy," he looked back over at his door, "And Donnie acts so superior all the time. He just wants to make us think we're stupid, is all." Smug with victory, Mike looked back at his 'new toy' and, grabbing his chair, dragged it in front of the desk. Sitting down, he studied the computer and, finding the familiar start button, pushed it in. He then declared excitedly, "Houston, we have _lift- off!"_

Only, nothing happened. No motor sounds, no blinking lights, absolutely nothing at all was happening.

Mike sat there and stared at the electronic, one eye ridge raised, and feeling quite perplexed. He looked at the computer again and studied the start button more carefully. With a little more deliberation, he pushed it in again. He looked at the computer tower, and then to the monitor screen, but after a moment, Mikey still saw nothing. He pushed the button, stared at the screen, then pushed the button again – a little harder this time, and stared at the screen. Mike continued pushing the button repeatedly, becoming more and more agitated with each push, until it became an all out punch. After a few minutes of this, he was almost beginning to feel like Raphael.

As he attacked the button one more time, he heard a pop, and his eyes went slightly wide. However, he quickly recovered and, standing up, rushed to his bedroom door. He leaned out into the hallway and yelled in exasperation, "Doooonnieeeee, the computer won't work, I think you have a bad part!"

Don had his head into the now hollowed out television, cleaning off the last residue of 'sticky' stuff that coated the inside. He was almost done and ready to reassemble the appliance, when he heard Mike's very loud proclamation. In fact, it had surprised him. Earlier, Leo had surrendered the idea of watching his favorite movie and had gone to the dojo to spar with Raphael. Splinter was still meditating in his room, so that left the purple-wearing turtle in blissful silence. Consequently, Mike's sudden yell startled Don, causing him to jump and, in so doing, banging his head inside the television.

"Ow!" he complained, pulling his head out and rubbing the top of it. He then gripped, "Mike, what'd you do, now?" As he tried to stand up, though, he suddenly moaned, "Ohhh…man, I was sitting there for far too long," Looking up at the clock on the wall, he realized that it had been almost two hours since Splinter had called him to fix the television. Mumbling under his breath as he stretched his arms and legs, "If I find out that Mikey fooled with the television, I'll kill 'em," and then he strode towards the bedrooms.

"What'd you do?" Don repeated himself as he stormed into Mike's room.

"I just pushed the 'on' button is all, but it wouldn't work," Mike replied as innocently as he could, backing up as far from Donnie as possible in his smallish room. He bit his bottom lip as his older brother approached the desk.

Don asked as he went over to the computer, "Did you bother to plug it in?"

Brightening cheerily, Mike replied, "Hey, what 'dya take me for, an idiot?"

Don looked back at him, one eye ridge raised, "Well…actually…"

"Hey, I resent that implication!" Mike complained, folding his arms across his chest in indignation.

"You mean 'resemble', right?" an all-too familiar voice graveled from the doorway. Mike looked over and saw that Raphael and, now, Leonardo standing there, watching him.

"Hey, I don't need an audience!" Mike complained defensively.

"Hey, when you accuse Don-san of getting a bad part, that's like saying Splinter can't kick," Raph replied with a smirk.

Leo chuckled and added, "Yeah, it's like saying Raph doesn't have a temper."

Raphael glared at his brother in blue, "That's two, Leo-san. Wanna make it three and see if yer right?"

Leo smiled, putting both hands up in surrender, "Kidding, I'm just kidding."

Raphael shook his head, unable to keep from smiling as well, and then looked back at Mikey, "I jus' know you did somethin' and I wanna find out what." .

Don sighed as he finally took a good look at the computer, asking in irritation, "Just exactly how many times did you push the 'on' button, Mike?"

Michelangelo shuffled his feet nervously and replied insecurely, "A…few."

Don swung around and looked at his brother, "A **_few_**?" He then pointed hard at the button, "What'd ya do, ninja kick it?" He then turned and crouched down to get a better look at the area in question, "That button's pushed in so far, I'm going to have to take the entire computer apart, now, to fix it!" He stood back up and glared at his brother, who pressed against the wall, as Don declared, "Not even one day, Mike, not one and you've already busted it! But, you're going to have to wait, Mikey, before I can fix it, because I have a **_television_** to put back together."

"Hey, but, but, but, I was first!" Mike protested with one raised finger.

"Sensei's first since he didn't break the television and I'm pretty sure who **_did_**!" Don nearly bellowed at Mike, who now flattened even more against the wall, as he asked, "Did you or did you not fool with the T.V.?"

Shrugging, Mike replied, as he looked away, "A…little, maybe. The signal wasn't strong and I remember when you fixed it and because I remember how you did it, I didn't see any difference…" Mike tried to defend himself, but when he looked at his brother and saw the growing agitation on Don's face, it told him that no amount of explanation would be good enough.

"The difference," Don grounded out between clenched teeth, "is…A – I know how to fix the television, and – B – when I do, I don't do it with a can of **_coke_** in my hand!"

"It's thirsty work, what can I say," Mike explained sheepishly.

Don was about to tell Mikey what exactly he _could_ say, but Splinter's voice suddenly piped in, "Enough." Leo and Raphael stood off to one side of the doorway to allow their father's entrance. The moment Splinter stepped into the room, the rat looked at Mike, "Donatello will fix the television first and then maybe see to your new computer, Michelangelo." He then glared at his youngest, "And next time, whenever you have a problem with the television, you will have Donatello fix it." Then, the rat said briskly, "And, Michelangelo, twenty back flips for breaking both the television and your computer!"

Mike groaned, Raph smiled, and Leo chuckled, as Don crawled under the desk to unplug the computer. However, shortly after the purple-clad turtle had scooted under the makeshift furniture, Don asked, "Hey, Mike, I thought you said that you had everything plugged in?"

Mike replied, still pressed against the wall, "I…I did…I…plugged the computer into the surge protector. I mean, it's not like it's rocket science or anything."

"Yeah, I can see that, but…" a groan and then a small chuckle escaped from Don, "You also plugged the surge protector into itself."

A double bark of laughter erupted from the doorway from Leonardo and Raphael. Nearly overcome with hysterics, they doubled over, holding their sides, and giggling like two schoolgirls.

Michelangelo could only watch in confusion, as he asked, "Hey, that's the way it works, right?" Mike looked back over at Donnie, who now had the 'broken' computer in his arms. "Right, Donnie?" he asked weakly.

As Don proceeded to leave the room, and while Leo and Raph gasped for air, he could only shake his head and sigh in frustration as he looked at his youngest brother, "Sometimes, Mikey, it **_does_** take a rocket scientist."


End file.
